When you are gone
by HouseofNightUniverse
Summary: Post 5x22. The other side is gone taking Damon and Bonnie with it. Stefan is hell bent on bringing his brother back. Caroline will help her best friend no matter what. But among all these will they be able to realise what they truly mean for each other or will it come with a price? [Rating's T for now, will be changed on requests.]
1. Chapter 1

"I lost them both..."

Stefan's words trailed off into the darkness as Caroline slowly walked towards him as she took a seat beside him in the stone carved platform.

"And Damon... finally had everything he wanted. He was happy...he should be here." He sighed as he spoke, his voice was filled with sorrow.

She looked at him, his face was grim with sadness and his eyes were moist. It hurted her to see Stefan hurting, breaking apart. She wanted to help him but the loss...it was too much for him to bear.

Stefan didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to the two person he had known the longest in his entire life. His heart ached knowing that he wouldn't be seeing them anymore. The other world had sucked into oblivion taking them with it. They were gone...just gone.

He felt it was entirely his fault that his brother was gone. If he hadn't died the other night saving Caroline, none of these would have happened. His brother was hell bent on bringing him back from the other side and look what he got himself into.. He was was still having a hard time believing that he was actually gone. His brother who he had grown up with, shared so many memories with, didn't exist anymore.

His mind drifted back into one of the old memories when they were both young and still human. They were playing ball outside their house when Stefan ran behind the house to catch hold of it as the ball rolled by.

"Stefan stop...be careful!"

Stefan could hear his brother's voice but he wanted to bring the ball back. But accidentally he slipped and hurt his elbow. He was scratched as blood was flowing through the wound. Damon came running by, his face full of brotherly concern.

"What did I tell you.. don't you remember father's words. He had told us not to come to the backyard, its slippery and dangerous and see, now you're hurt."

He helped Stefan up, taking him inside the house to look after the wound.

"Its nothing much brother, it doesn't hurt much. And I don't have anything to worry when I have a brother like you looking out for me."

Damon had smiled reassuringly. "Always brother..always!"

"Stefan...its gonna be alright." Caroline voice was dimmed as she squeezed his hand.

He turned towards her, even when her face showed no sign of happiness, still she looked like an angel on earth. She looked more beautiful as the rays of the moon shimmered down on her face. Stefan knew one thing, whatever happened now, this girl, his best friend was going to stay beside him no matter what. And this time, he was going to make it sure that no one hurted hurt. He knew he was being selfish thinking that she would help and support him every second even if she had her own problem but he couldn't help it, she was only one who he had left.

"Let it go Stefan...let it go, you'll feel better."

He never thought that he would be so open with his emotions infront of Caroline. As she uttered the words, his emotions rushed out of him as he let his tears flow through. He felt Caroline's arms around him as she held him tightly, her face resting on his shoulder while Stefan emptied his heart out.

What seemed after a very long time, he sat straight up as Caroline released her grip. He could see she was in tears as well. Without thinking for a second time, he reached his hand out as he wiped them away, his hand still cupping the right side of her face.

"Thank you."

She smiled softly as she answered. "What are best friends for."

Realising what he has been doing he removed his hands as they sat in silence. During those moments, he had felt something, as if she belonged to one and only him and no one else. He quickly discared the feeling, right now the only thing that he must he thinking about was how to bring his brother and Bonnie back. He must focus on that now.

"Caroline..."

"Yeah?"

"We need to get them back."

She looked at him with concern. She knew the other world didn't exist anymore and there was no logical way to bring them back. When Stefan was into the other world they had tried every possible way but Bonnie heing the anchor was the only way to pass through. But even her best friend was gone now, she sacrificed herself for the others. She defied the meaning of a true friend. Caroline couldn't reason with him now. But even inside her she believed that she couldn't give up this easily. Clearly Stefan was not going to either. And she would help him, no matter how much problem they have to face, she was going to beside him. She understood Stefan, right now there was every possibility that he could loose himself into the darkness but she was not going to let this happen to him, she was going to save him, protect him from everything.

"We will Stefan, we are in this together."

For a split second Caroline though she saw his priceless smile. But it was gone all too soon that she thought she had imagined it. She knew she was going to do, try everything in her power to bring them back, she wanted to see that smile back on his face again and she was willing to fight the world if she needed to.

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**A/N: This is my version of how everything's going to happen in S6, specially Steroline. **

**I couldn't resist writing this, I have planned a lot of things for this story. There's gonna be twists, action and most importantly Steroline romance. Their chemistry is undeniable on screen and I can't wait to write more. **

**I'm going to keep the ratings 'T' for now but it depends entirely on you reviewers to decide based on the appropriate situation. **

**So, please READ and REVIEW! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: SOOOOO SORRY about the late update. I am having my final exam of my 1st year in college in August. I am pretty tensed about the exam. And I'm barely getting any off time, plus I have been struggling with this chapter. It was not exactly framing up in my mind. With a little help from my Tesse bear, that is one of my roleplaying friend who actually helped me to think straight and baamn! I got this... Enjoy!**

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**Chapter** 2: **And the Ride begins.**

Mystic Falls, the home of the supernatural creatures, was actually quite after a long, long time. There were no more attacks at the particular moment and the traveller problem was finally gone for good. But the quiteness around the city could be only felt from the outside. Every inch of their soul were screaming from the inside. While every other people seemed to move on with their life unaware of anything, but their lives seemed to have come to a pit stop after the incident.

Everybody had lost a loved ones in this process, and this sacrifice was not worth it. Elena and Stefan had lost Damon, Jeremy has lost Bonnie and in a way Caroline had lost her old friend Stefan in the midst of somewhere. He was not in his usual self after Damon had gone. He had somewhat locked himself up in a shell, closed the door of his heart tying up all the emotions and only focusing on the way to bring his brother back.

Elena had been crying endlessly, it was clear to Caroline now that how much she loved Damon, they were meant to be together. Elena had practically locked herself in Damon's room after his death. And Jeremy, it seemed like the poor guy lost everybody he loved. First Vicky, then Anna and now Bonnie. He had been staying with Matt for a while now but even he had closed himself into a shell. It was hard for everyone to cope up in this condition.

Everything was a mess, Caroline felt helpless. She was always the bubbly, cheerful girl full of optimism but right now she was definitely lacking it. Stefan was the one who helped her in any situation, he was her guide, her teacher and her best friend, she saw that he was struggling to keep his emotions from going off the edge but who could blame him, he was the most affected of all if them. He needed help at this moment. Most importantly, he had controlled himself from going into the ripper state after listening to her request. It was more than she could have asked for. He was trying his best to stay sane when all the hopes have started to perish one by one.

/

Caroline sat up in her bed, sweating, she had been dreaming again about the day when Stefan's heart was ripped out in front of her. It was a sight that was going to haunt her forever. She knew she wouldn't be able to bear his death, it would break her forever. The sunlight peeped through one of the corners of the window adding a pale yellow shade to her room. She leaned against the bed taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. What was she going to do? They have been trying to find Liv for days now. They had last seen that witch on the day the inevitable happened. She was helping them one moment and she was gone in the other. Had she been able to hold on for a few more seconds everything would have been in place. It seemed that she he just vanished from the face of earth after that day.

Bonnie would be the one person who would help them without any questions asked. But she was gone just like Damon, their witch, their selfless best friend was gone. She desperately needed her back in her life. But all the paths were closing in. She couldn't loose hope now..could she? If not for herself then for Stefan. She couldn't let him be lost again.

She picked up her phone from the table which was situated beside her bed. She clicked it open, there was two messages waiting to be read. One was from Stefan and the other from Elena and both had the same thing to say. They had found a useful piece of news and needed her to come right away to the Salvator Boarding house. She was hungry, she hadn't fed quite well after everything has happened and she rather felt week. What she needed right now was some blood. On second thoughts she would get some at the boarding house. She got up from her bed as she went to the bathroom for shower.

She didn't have that much time in her hand, so she started the cold shower. Though it didn't matter for a vampire, but Caroline liked it warm. And now under the cold water she shivered a little. After stepping out of the bathroom, she got ready as fast as she could. She pulled on a jeans and a yellow top. After brushing her hair she was all set to go. After locking her house, she headed to the Salvator mansion to hear the news.

"So, hey what do you guys ha..?"

Her words were left hanging when she entered the house and saw Stefan and Elena sitting side by side holding hands. Her head was resting in his shouder as when Caroline came in she lifted her head up, her eyes brimmed with hope. Nonetheless, the moment Caroline had seem them sitting together like that, she had felt a sharp pain in her heart, it felt like somebody took her everything in one go. Her first thought was that they had made up and somehow they were back together again. She shrugged her head when she realised what she had been thinking. She knew it was not the right moment to be thinking about it all, plus Elena was in love with Damon. But they were together once and Caroline knew how much Stefan loved her. She remembered his words, "I would take her back in an heartbeat." Nothing was impossible after all. These thoughts crowded her mind as much as she didn't want to think about them but she couldn't help it. Though she was a vampire but she was just a girl after all.

"Hi Caroline.."

Stefan was the first to break the silence as he came towards her and puller her in for a quick hug.

"Hey guys...so what did you both text me about? Did yoy find Liv?"

"Much better than that." Stefan answered.

"Tell me..I can't wait anymore."

"I'm telling you, Caroline."

The voice came from behind as Jeremy walked in. She was seeing this guy what seemed like a long time. He seemed... broken, just pretty much broken.

"Hey Jeremy..." Caroline smiled softly at him.

He returned back the smile but it was clear that the smile was forceful. Then in a second his face was hard without any emotion as he grew serious.

"So, I have been seeing things again..more precisely Bonnie."

"What!" Caroline's eyes widened as ahe couldn't believe what she was actually listening too.

"I saw her in my dreams Caroline, at first I thought I was having hallucinations or something but now I know its real. She has been trying to communicate with me. All I know that she is somewhat stuck, the other world is gone but they are somewhere in the middle of oblivion. We need to help them and fast.."

"Woah.." Caroline flopped down on the sofa as she digested the news. So there was some hope after all. She finally looked up as she saw Stefan's questioning glance. She knew the exact question that had come to Stefan's mind as well.

"But..how are we gonna do this?" Caroline asked.

"We need the help of a witch."

"The last I checked Liv and her brother are nowhere to be found and no other witch is left in Mystic Falls as far as I know.."

"I know.." Jeremy sighed as he continued. "We need to go to New York, we will get the help there."

"Okay, so when are we leaving?"

"We don't have any time to waste, today afternoon, sounds good?" Everybody nodded in unison.

/

They were finally placing their luggages in the backside of the car. Everything was ready, they needed to set sail now. Then she saw Elena headed towards the car with her bags. Not in a second Caroline had thought that Elena was going to come. If course she was going to come. She felt utterly confused by her thoughts, she thought she and Stefan were going in this alone. She tried to think straight but nothing logical came out.

Elena placed her bags, then she walked towards the front seat of the car, opened it and ducked in.

"Are you guys coming or not?" She spoke out loud from the inside of the car.

Stefan got into the driver seat as Caroline slipped into the car and so did Jeremy.

She relaxed her head as she leaned on the window, closing her eyes as the journey began. The thoughts began filling her mind again. Why did Elena sat in the front with Stefan, she could have sat with her behind. No, but she had to sit there. Wasn't she in this mission to save Damon and their friend Bonnie, then why was she having these strange feelings about these two. Was she actually feeling insecure and jealous, it couldn't be...could it?

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**A/N: So, what do you guys think gonna happen next? Will they finally get the help they want or will it slip away? Plus will Caroline's fear turn true or what! :O But mainly will she finally realise her actual feelings for Stefan? Oh dear..oh dear..**

**Will you have to read the story to find what happens next! AND I PROMISE A STEROLINE SCENE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. **

**A BIG HUG TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED THE 1ST CHAPTER.**

**AND PLEASEEEE READ AND REVIEW! MORE REVIEWS, MORE FAST UPDATES! It all depends on the encouragement, you know... ;)**


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